Meatless Monday: 10 Vegetarian Recipes To Help You Eat More Kale

Vegetarian or not, everyone seems to be shoving kale down our throats these days–literally. Whatever your diet involves, no nutritionist will deny that greens are something you shouldn’t skip, and it just so happens that leafy, dense kale has become the poster child for getting people to pack in their fiber and vitamins. But tragically, many a bunch of kale goes from farmer’s market to trash because people just don’t know what to do with it: It has a strong flavor and chewy texture, making it more difficult to incorporate into recipes than spinach or lettuce. But never fear: We have some solutions…10 of them, in fact.

I wish I could like the taste of kale. No matter what I do it, it just doesn’t taste good!

Briana Rognlin

Ahhh Amber – we need to fix this! Have you tried lacinato kale (some people call it ‘Dinosaur Kale’)? I like it way better than regular kale; it tastes a little different and I think the texture is a lot more pleasant than regular kale. And I really do think that finding good recipes makes a big difference—personally, I’ve gotten used to the flavor and could eat a huge plate of just kale now, but in the past I’ve really liked mixing it in to things like mac n’ cheese or foods that have more flavor and fat to balance out the kale.

But if you REALLY can’t stomach it, maybe try a smoothie (if you have a high-powered blender). I know it sounds like something only crazy, crunchy hippies would do, but if you blend the kale and whatever milk/juice/liquid you’re using first (and blend it really, really well) you can’t taste the greens once you mix in a bunch of fruit. Looks green, but doens’t taste it.

Let us know how it goes… Or if there are any other things we can do to help! And in the meantime, I hope you’re eating some other vegetables instead of kale!

-Briana

Lisa

You’re missing my two favorite kale recipes. One is dino kale w/ sesame noodles (though I use regular kale too) and the other is kale sauteed with bacon and onions. Ok, bacon probably makes that second one pretty dang unhealthy, but it’s a great side for salmon

Briana Rognlin

Ha! Well, Lisa, the bacon disqualifies your second recipe from the post (since it’s Meatless Monday) but the kale and sesame noodles would work for sure…and it sounds awesome. Share links to the recipe so we can all get in on the goods!

Cookie and Kate

Thank you for including my kale salad recipe in your roundup, Briana! I’m excited to try some of the others, like the sweet potato, quinoa and kale cakes. It’s like all of my favorite things, rolled into one!

Briana Rognlin

No problem! Your recipe looks great, as do all of these other ones… I can’t wait to try them all myself.

Kim Foster, MD

Great looking recipes, will have to give them a try!

I have totally been tripping over kale these days, everywhere I look/read…kale must have some really good PR people on its payroll. Same people on quinoa, I think.

Briana Rognlin

Ha! I know what you mean, but full disclosure: Publicists did not slip me cash to write about kale! Like I said in the post, I think a lot of it has to do with more people being health-conscious, but another big part of why it’s all over the place is that it is so hardy. You can grow it year-round and (cool fact) it actually tastes sweeter in the winter because the plant naturally pumps more sugar into its leaves to resist freezing.

emma

Hi, thanks so much for including my recipe from Sunflower Days

Are you able to link my image to my new site? I would really appreciate it as Sunflower Days is no longer being updated.